CMMI’s purpose is to serve as an innovation lab for promising new ways to use to test new payment and service delivery models. CMMI models are intended to improve care quality, lower cost, and promote patient-centered practices. With new administrations, we can expect to see new demonstrations introduced and expect to see announcements in the coming months.
CMS has assessed the current models and announced in a March 12th memo that several will end earlier than originally planned. This includes the Primary Care First (PCF) demonstration. PCF included an innovative primary care hybrid payment design alongside a set of expectations for participating practices. There are two cohorts of practices in the model – one that began in 2021 and the other that began in 2022.
Of the 145 Michigan PCF practices, many began participating in 2021 and would have completed the demonstration by year’s end anyway. As per the March 12th memo, now both cohorts will now complete their PCF participation by the end of this year. PCF practices will receive additional details from CMS with “timelines, technical assistance and other information regarding the wind-down and close-out.”
Another primary care-focused model, The Making Care Primary (MCP) demonstration, will also end early. MCP operated in eight states (Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Washington) and featured a shift over time toward fully prospective population-based payments.
Hearteningly, the memo states that “Primary care remains a foundational component of the Center’s strategy. The early termination of Primary Care First and Making Care Primary does not signal a retreat from the Center’s support of primary care providers, but rather a need to focus on different approaches that are consistent with the CMS Innovation Center’s statutory mandate and produce savings.”
Interestingly, one of the additional resources listed at the end of the March 12th memo was the Advanced Primary Care Management code bundles introduced in the Physician Fee Schedule in 2025.
The Innovation Center noted in a press release about the CMMI changes that they plan to announce a new strategy focused on “preventing disease through evidence-based practices, empowering people with information to make better decisions, and driving choice and competition.”
It appears that several other existing demonstration models will continue, including the Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) Model which features global hospital budgets, primary care payment reform, and a focus on the total cost of care. AHEAD began in 2024 and will run through 2034. So far, the following areas have been selected to participate in AHEAD: Maryland, Connecticut, Hawaii, Vermont, New York (in five downstate counties: Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond, and Westchester) and Rhode Island.
We’ll be watching as new demonstration are announced, and you can be sure when they come out that we will cover them here.
Michigan Multipayer Initiatives 